Curtiss Aircraft's B-2 Condor was a descendant of the Martin NBS-1 , which was built by Curtiss for the Glenn L. Martin Company. There were a few differences, such as stronger materials and different engines, but they were not particularly important changes.

The B-2 was a massive canvas biplane. Its twin engines sat in nacelles between the wings, flanking the fuselage. It had a twin set of rudders on a twin tail, which was somewhat antiquated even for the time it was built. At the end of each nacelle was a gunner position. In previous planes, the back-facing gunners had been in the fuselage, but their view there was obstructed. A similar arrangement was adopted in the competing Keystone XB-1.

The XB-2 competed for a production contract with the similar Keystone XB-1, Sikorsky S-37 , and Fokker XLB-2 . The other three were immediately ruled out, but the Army board appointed to make the contracts were stongly supportive of the smaller Keystone XLB-6 , which cost a third as much as the B-2. Furthermore, the B-2 was large for the time and difficult to fit into existing hangars. However, the superior performance of the XB-2 soon wrought a policy change, and in 1928 a production run of 12 was ordered.

A later version of the B-2, dubbed the B-2A, featured dual controls for both the pilot and the copilot. Previously, the control wheel and the pitch controls could only be handled by one person at a time. This 'dual control' setup became standard on all bombers by the 1930s. There was no production line for the B-2A, though a B-2 was converted to follow its setup. The B-2 design was also used as a transport. A version of it was tested as the C-30 Condor .

The B-2 was quickly made obsolete by technological advances of the 1930s, and served only briefly with the Army Air Corps, being removed from service by 1934. Following production of the B-2, Curtiss Aircraft left the bomber business, and concentrated on the Hawk series of Pursuit Aircraft in the 1930s.

Specifications (B-2)

General Characteristics

• Crew: 5
• Length: 47 ft 6 in (14.5 m)
• Wingspan: 90 ft 0 in (27.4 m)
• Height: 16 ft 3 in (4.9 m)
• Wing area: 1,500 ft² (140 m²)
• Empty: 9,000 lb (4,100 kg)
• Loaded: 16,500 lb (7,480 kg)
• Maximum takeoff: lb ( kg)
• Powerplant: 2× Curtiss V-1570 -7 of 600 hp (450 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 132 mph (212 km/h)
• Cruising speed: 114 mph (183 km/h)
• Range: 780 miles (1300 km)
• Service ceiling: 16,500 ft (4,030 m)
• Rate of climb: 740 ft/min (220 m/min)
• Wing loading: 11 lb/ft² (53 kg/m²)
• Power/Mass: 0.072 hp/lb (0.12 kW/kg)

Armament

• Guns: 6× .30-calibre (7.62 mm) Lewis machine guns
• Bombs: 2,500 lb (1,100 kg); 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) on short runs

Links

• Encyclopedia of American Aircraft
• Photograph of B-2 in flight
• USAF Museum article on B-2

Related Content

Related development: C-30 Condor

Comparable aircraft: Fokker XLB-2 - Huff-Daland XB-1 - Huff-Daland XHB-1 - Sikorsky S-37

Designation sequence: XB-1 - B-2 - B-3 - B-4 - B-5

Related Lists: List of military aircraft of the United States - List of bomber aircraft